WATCH: New Audi S3 Sportback takes on popular VW Golf R

The recently updated Audi S3 Sportback is quite a curious case. With the ongoing move to compact SUVs, the traditional hatchback continues to come under more and more pressure. Especially in the premium segment where buyers have the money to base their purchase choices on more than just economical transport.

Perhaps the only exception to this trend is the hot hatch, where once again the buyer wants to own such a car to make a statement. Street cred counts more than anything. Here Audi have the S3 Sportback to tempt the performance enthusiast away from the runaway leader in this segment, the Volkswagen Golf R.

Fuming over detuning

I am going to attempt to tackle the elephant in the room right up front because every keyboard warrior is up in arms and is threatening to march to Audi South Africa’s HQ to demand answers as to why the S3 Sportback we get here is “de-tuned” to 213 kW and doesn’t offer the full 228 kW offered in most other overseas markets.

First up, Audi SA don’t dictate the rules to Audi AG, so this decision is not on them. Marching to their offices won’t achieve anything. Then, de-tuning as it is known is not new.

We are identified as a hot weather country and the quality of our fuel available at the petrol pumps is not suitable to many of the latest engines out of Europe. And for the manufacturer to fully warrant reliability, the edge is taken off in the interests of engine longevity.

Why less horses?

This is the easy part to understand, but what does beg a few questions is that the previous S3 model, running the same engine, was offered at 228 kW and 400 Nm. Its sibling, the Golf 7.5 R also got offered at 228 kW at the end of its lifecycle. Has something changed in the engine? Has something changed in terms of our fuel quality?

I doubt it. But none of this really matters. Where it counts most is what happens out on the road. The important part when you give up a minimum of R795 000, for an S3 Sportback, and an eye watering R985 800 for our extra laden test car. And here the Audi S3 Sportback dismisses all this upheaval around its missing 15 kW in emphatic fashion.

The business end

Lining up at our test facility, the Audi S3 Sportback make easy work of the 0 to 100 km/h sprint by hitting this benchmark in a time of 4.91 seconds. Which is right on claimed, and quicker than the lighter, full power VW Golf R that ran a 5.14 when we tested it back in 2019.

S3 Sportback            Golf R

0-100 km/h       4.91 seconds                      5.14 seconds

1/4Mile               13.22 seconds                    13.43 seconds

1/2 Mile              20.78 seconds                    20.97 seconds

1 Km                     24.06 seconds                    14.17 seconds

60-100 km/h     2.72 seconds                     2.94 seconds

80-120 km/h     3.21 seconds                    3.24 seconds

100- 200 km/h 13.70 seconds                   14.34 seconds

Staying in front

It doesn’t stop there. The advantage stays with the S3 all the way through the quarter mile, the half mile, the 1km sprint and also through all the roll-on acceleration tests. Top speed is claimed to be electronically limited to 250 km/h for both cars, but they actually run closer to 260 km/h for what that is worth.

On par with the best

The Audi S3 Sportback is right on par with the best out there in terms of performance and agility and should be the more discerning buyer’s first choice. But this choice comes at a price, and that price is the extras can add a hefty addition to your bill should you choose to kit your Audi S3 Sportback out to the hilt.

Then you have the impossible to ignore issue of Volkswagen’s still to be launched locally Golf 8 R that is said to produce an S3 Sportback-bettering 235 kW and 420 Nm. And a better claimed 0 to 100 km/h time of 4.7 seconds. But until we test, the Audi S3 Sportback is top of the table right now!